New technology - Is riding now too easy?

[nathanm]

For me it's the opposite. I've been riding the same trails on Mt Wellington for over a decade. Started on a Giant Boulder with Elastomer forks and V-Brakes. I believe the old technology made riding too hard, thus keeping people away from our great sport.

We used to session drops of around 1 metre and build up the confidence to roll it.

I now have half a dozen bikes from ht to 7" freeride/Dh bikes. The same drops I used to roll into, if at all, I now send by metres. I still challenge myself regularly by getting out on the Hoss and race my mates on their Full DH rigs but without a real fear of serious injury or death. My skills and speed is at least treble what it was in my 20's even with the restrictions that come with age.

The advancements in technology make things easier thus better. Which for me is the same with all technology.

As a trail builder my mission is now to make tracks that challenge and exceed the technology available, by doing more than just throwing in massive jumps and drops.

 

[MTB Pilot]

I started riding my own "mountain bike" in the mid 70's that I adapted from a road race bike. I got the knobbiest tyres I could find at the time, and had just a back pedal brake. I added a bar that resembled todays mountain bike bars, and that was about it. It was a single speed and was so much fun during the time I had it. I grew up in the Hawkesbury in NSW, so I had plenty of hills and mountains to thrash around in. Great way to build strong legs as a young guy. I had a whole lot of fun on that bike. It was nothing flash but it was a great deal of fun.

I left bikes for a while when I got my drivers licence, but the next bike was a Apollo Kosciuszko. Went on to a Shogun Slix Rock from that bike, and then last year got a Giant XTC 26" bike. What a difference when I look back over the few bikes I've had. I'm looking at Giants 650's when they come out as my next bike. I like the look of the the 650's Giant has allowed us to see on the net so far, but I'm really hoping to see a carbon XTC in 650b coming out.

I'm not sure that riding is too easy these days, but it's a whole lot of fun to ride bikes with the technology we enjoy on our bikes now. There's so much choice wherever you look.

 

[cramhobart]

Who cares ITS MORE FUN , does anyone really miss arm pump, and an aching back?

 

[morticus]

Im sure im not the only one who thought they didnt need brakes because you could jam your foot in the back wheel and stop while doing sick skids.

 

[Ridenparadise]

I think some are being too quick to point the finger at modern trail design. If you don't build a trail substantially, then it falls to pieces too fast with the increasing number of riders. We build up to 2m wide, but within months there is a narrow ribbon of singletrack free of disaster if you do stray just off the riding line.

Trail surface and width of trail have nothing to do with difficulty. We see it everyday with so-called expert riders failing to step up to higher speeds and failing to cope with new features like jumps and berms, then whining that the trails are too easy. If you want to ride trails the width of an ant track, then go out and ride anywhere - same thing I used to do before there were MTB trails. If you want trails so marginal that you are the only one who can ride them and declare yourself expert, well then you are self-interested and probably not inclined to pick up a shovel, help and have some input in the way your trails ride.

 

[silentbutdeadly]

.... has all that stuff become so much easier and almost dumbed down with new things like mega powerful brakes, super fine tuned suspension, extra grippy rubber, forgiving geometry?
Does the advancements in bike parts and manufacturers designs make our trails easier to ride?

No. I still struggle and puff now as much as I did back then. But I'm far more comfortable while doing it. So yes.

Back then I was physically fighting physics...now the machine is doing more of the work and I can spend more mental effort on getting the technique right rather than simply concentrating on hanging on and wondering if the brakes are ever going to come back to the party.

Older. Wiser. Better equipped.

 

[richie_gt]

I wouldn't say riding is now too easy...I don't think it ever will be!

I began riding and racing DH in the late 90’s on an Avanti Montari hardtail with RockShox Indy S, huge 2 inches of travel and V-brakes which were horrid in the wet, I used to run a slick XC tyre on the back too! 12 -14 years later I have a DH bike which has the suspension, brakes and tyres which are purpose built for downhill!

Can I compare it being an easier between then and now? I’d say no because in both cases I’m trying to ride as fast and smooth as I can, and push the limits of my riding ability with the equipment I’ve got!

But if I took the DH bike I own now on the tracks I was riding in the 90’s…’easier to ride’ would be the understatement of all time!

 

[G-radam]

Dohnt need new technology!

Im riding my new kawasaki, beeen rinin for 23 years, n' all this light weight crap is a myth.. You dont need new tech, it honestly doesnt do a thing.. Go get a kmart kawasaki bro, n' i'd suggest it to any of mah buds on Rotorburn.com Jalco is deffinatly the best wheel set, n' you can even true them by putting them in the freezer - do it all the time!

 

[flamin'trek]

I remember the first DH races I attended, most of the bikes were hardtails. The guys with large amounts of cash had duallies and eventually the DH trail got too hard for most of us (on HT).

Slowly the bikes improved and the trails got harder. Its a bit of a shame now that some trails are too hard for newbies without the cash for the latest technology. Not everybody wants the latest greatest gear, so to keep our sport growing it will be important to maintain trails that can be ridden with low tech/low skills. I get as much enjoyment, if not more, out of riding along singletrack through the trees as trying out my skill set on some of the more techy XC stuff - I'm never going to be a downhiller requiring a gazillion inches of travel and body armour, and there are a lot out there in the same boat.

 

[downhillar]

Slowly the bikes improved and the trails got harder

Yeah this is what I think has happened.

I think all the old guys in this thread reminiscing about trails they rode in the 1920's when all they had was a fixy (before they became uncool, then cool again, and then once again uncool) possibly have a fuzzy memory of how big that drop actually was, how steep those trails really were and how fast they actually used to take corners :lol:

 

[Reubs]

Its all a progression, same in any sport.
Yes, technology has helped us go faster, for longer and on sometimes much worse terrain. To say it makes it all too easy is to admit that you no longer push yourself, your limits and the limits of what your bike can do. In skiing, I learnt to properly carve turns on straight, long, unforgiving race planks. Their limitations are quickly reached off of a groomed ski hill and so my fat, short, well engineered powder skis allow me to do so much more. Likewise my first mtb was rigid with cantis, a far cry from my carbon dh bike. I still ride some of the same dh trails as i did in 1994 but instead of taking 20 minutes it takes 4 and i can still push the limits of my ability.

I do see young guys nowdays riding bikes and lines that would've been an insane dream when I was 14 but I dont see that as making our sport "too easy" - I see that as the level of talent that technology has helped create.

 

[crazymofo]

nope. It's being dumbed down because of peoples insistence on turning single track into two metre wide groomed bmx tracks.

^^^ this!!

 

[Cronar]

Nope. It's being dumbed down because of peoples insistence on turning single track into two metre wide groomed BMX tracks.

It's not just the tracks that are being dumbed down, I think the skill base of the average rider is lower than it used to be. A lot of people are entering the sport these days on a nice 4"+ trail bike which is very forgiving and allows them to become comfortable quite quickly ... However, (generalising here) it leaves many with no sense of line or flow.

Watching someone who has only ever ridden a dual sus ride a rough trail is pretty painful, they tend to smash their way through with no sense of line, bogging down in every hole. Watch a skilled rider on the same section and they seem to float through because they have a sense of line and flow.

Go to a endurence race these days and there is a massive derth of skills, a lot of very fit riders with very little clue of how to ride a rough trail. If they spent 20% less time working on their fitness and put this time into building their skills i'm pretty sure their race results would improve.

The solution? ... I'd like to propose that every new rider entering the sport has to serve a 1 year apprenticeship on a 26" hardtail ... ;D

 

[Ridenparadise]

^^^ this!!

Wrong - see my earlier post and also see Cronar's post for explanations

 

[silentbutdeadly]

I think all the old guys in this thread reminiscing about trails they rode in the 1920's when all they had was a fixy (before they became uncool, then cool again, and then once again uncool) possibly have a fuzzy memory of how big that drop actually was, how steep those trails really were and how fast they actually used to take corners :lol:

Absolutely...that way you young truckers can never win no matter how hard you try or how cool your toys are!

 

[valium]

Technology has allowed the sport to progress a massive amount. Having recently arrived here from BC it was awesome to ride places like fromme where the 'shore' style of riding started. Many of the old trails are still alive and ridden, but are superseded by newer trails which make the old look simply tame.

In short, technological improvement makes things easier, which makes us try harder things.

 

[Big JD]

too old to care.

yeah stuff has improved and the trails are more groomed as a whole - so more people with varied skills can ride them. Riding offroad hasnt really changed that much for me - still go similar pace on ST. My bike can handle the drops better now with 5 inches of super travel but Im still doing the same shit I did on a 3 inch elostomer forked HT, rigid alloy bike or a FS bike with elastomer rear and Bomber front.

At 40+ I do enjoy the comfort, efficency and safety of modern bikes but have a rigid SS in shed to really work the trails and my aging bones/skills.

 

[moorey]

So THAT'S why I suck....
I'm riding my 9 yo Dh bike on trails and tracks that have left me behind.
I cooda been a contender :noidea:

 

[donthucktoflat]

So does ht dh racing now not exist anymore? Anyone else remember rik flying off the bottom jump at thredders with one shoe?

 

[floody]

It's not just the tracks that are being dumbed down, I think the skill base of the average rider is lower than it used to be. A lot of people are entering the sport these days on a nice 4"+ trail bike which is very forgiving and allows them to become comfortable quite quickly ... However, (generalising here) it leaves many with no sense of line or flow.

Watching someone who has only ever ridden a dual sus ride a rough trail is pretty painful, they tend to smash their way through with no sense of line, bogging down in every hole. Watch a skilled rider on the same section and they seem to float through because they have a sense of line and flow.

I can remember people saying the same thing about front suspension. I think its BS.